Idaho Technical Institute during the Great War

A small, almost unnoticeable college sits in the midst of an unassuming town during one of the greatest wars ever to be fought in the history of humankind. And yet the Idaho Technical Institute (now known as Idaho State University), situated in the town of Pocatello, was no bystander during the First World War. The campus changed not only its basic class and program structure but also grew and became a big contributor to Idaho during the war.

Originally founded in 1915, Idaho Technical Institute (ITI) was a subset of the already established University of Idaho in Moscow, Idaho. The courses provided at the institute were to correspond as close as possible to those of University of Idaho according to a statement made by the State Board of Education. They were also to give the necessary education for the first two years in case one was to transfer to the main college afterwards.[1] As the name suggests, ITI had courses mainly focusing on the areas of technical and vocational education. The campus was split into two colleges, The College, and The Vocational School. Courses offered from the College ranged from engineering and agriculture, to home economics and commerce. The Vocational School “Include[d] practical departments of study covering the pursuits and industries typical to the state.”[2] In other words, the first college tended to focus on skills and trades necessary for blue collar jobs, while the second focused more on the skills necessary for white collar.

In order to learn anything from the institute however, prospective students had to pass a few barriers of entry, though once doing so, many options became available to them. Compared to the entry requirements to get into a well-respected college currently, the barriers to get into ITI were extremely low. To attend the College, a student had to have finished high school or its equivalent. Meanwhile, to get into the Vocational School, only two years of high school were required, or a student had to be “mature and over sixteen years of age.”[3] How they determined who was “mature” or not, remains a mystery for another time. In addition, there was no tuition, with the only expenses being those of individual courses and student activities, which were run by the various student organizations that existed at the time. The main three of these were the Associated Students of the Idaho Technical Institute, the Literary Societies, and the Christian Associations. These three were set up to help the students have fun and develop better social skills.[4]

All of the school’s ongoing activities remained mostly constant up until the 1917-18 school year when the United States entered the First World War. It was then that things started to change. In a direct address to the problems present during the war, the Idaho Technical Institute urged those not already participating in the war effort to continue their education. As put by the Commissioner of Education, Dr. E. A. Bryan, “The young man before went to college for his own sake; now he should go for his nation’s sake.”[5] The school year was shortened by cutting back holidays and eliminating vacations. While regular courses would continue as normal, many new ones were added in direct response to the needs of Idaho and the nation as a whole. These new courses were umbrellaed under the name Short War Emergency Course. The purpose of these courses was “to provide for war emergencies and to meet the demand for special technical training.”[6] These courses included things like stenography and typewriting, army bookkeeping, Red Cross work, food conservation, farm products, and various “special” courses in the industrial arts. Many of these courses, such as Red Cross work, food conservation, and farm products were also available to the general public, not just the students.[7] By the end of the year, enrollment at ITI had actually risen, and continued to increase during the summer of 1918 due to a deal made with the military to teach and train soldiers. Called the Special Government Training Detachments, 110 men went into training for two months during the month of July. While there were plans for more detachments to be sent, the contract fell void once the armistice was signed, and the war ended.[8]

By the time the Armistice was signed in November 1918, war talk at Idaho Technical College subsided greatly. However, the changes made during the war were to prove influential in the future of the institute. The growth in enrollment proved to be more than a fleeting moment as the population increased greatly from then on. Many of the courses introduced during war time remained or evolved greatly expanding the diversity of the college. Indeed many of the changes that war brought about helped the Idaho Technical Institute evolve into the campus known today as Idaho State University.

                           – Isaac Dayley

[1] Idaho Technical Institute, The Idaho Technical Institute Bulletin 1, no. 1 (1915): 9-10.

[2] Ibid, 10.

[3] Ibid, 14.

[4] Idaho Technical Institute, The Idaho Technical Institute Bulletin 1, no. 1 (1915): 15, 20-21.

[5] Idaho Technical Institute, The Idaho Technical Institute Bulletin 3, no. 2 (1917): 2-3.

[6] Ibid, 5-6.

[7] Ibid, 6-7.

[8] Idaho Technical Institute, The Idaho Technical Institute Bulletin Biennial Report 5, no. 1 (1918): 158.